CM/ECF Administrator

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
Southern District of California
San Diego, California
Phone: (619) 557-6152 | Fax: (619) 702-9911
www.casd.uscourts.gov

POSITION: CM/ECF Administrator
SALARY: CL 26/27 ($62,110 - $110,917 DOE)
Starting salary should be expected in low to middle portion of the range, based on qualifications and experience.
Promotion to CL 27 without further competition
CLOSING DATE: April 13, 2026, or until filled
LOCATION: San Diego, California
VACANCY NO.: 26-15

Position Overview:
The United States District Court for the Southern District of California is accepting applications for the position of CM/ECF Administrator. This position is located in the Operations Section of the Clerk’s Office, United States District Court and reports to the Case Services Supervisor. The incumbent will serve as one of the principle operational administrators of the CM/ECF system. This position serves in the Case Services Department to provide knowledge and assistance in developing and implementing procedures needed to ensure continuous improvement in the operational functions. The CM/ECF Administrator provides quality assurance of all electronic entries.
Representative Duties:
• Analyzes operational practices and procedures and works closely with supervisor regarding procedural problems, questions, implementing new functions, updating, and creating document types in the CM/ECF dictionary, and system updates.
• Recommends improvement of work processes, operating methods, and data entry screens.
• Troubleshoots, researches, and makes appropriate changes to the CM/ECF system using applicable programming languages. Designs reports and extracts information from CM/ECF database.
• Reviews, identifies, and researches the accuracy, timeliness and quality of data entered into the case record.
• Coordinates testing of new operational system functions and releases.
• Responds promptly to requests by Judges, Court staff and attorneys, for new and/or improved CM/ECF document types and/or operational procedures.
• Responds promptly to internal and external customer requests for assistance in failed attempts to docket in the CM/ECF system.
• Acts as resource for CM/ECF issues and answers technical questions of other employees on procedures and policies related to CM/ECF.
• Develops CM/ECF training and procedural manuals for docketing in the CM/ECF system.
• Provides necessary CM/ECF training and conducts informational meetings for Judges, Chambers staff, Clerk’s Office staff and attorneys.
• Other duties as assigned.
Qualification Requirements:
A minimum of one (1) year of specialized experience is required to qualify for an appointment at CL-26. A minimum of (2) years of specialized experience, including at least one year equivalent to work at the CL-26 level is required to qualify for an appointment at CL-27.
Specialized experience is defined as progressively responsible clerical experience requiring the regular and recurring application of clerical procedures related to the processing of legal documents, involving the routine use of keyboard skills and use of specialized terminology, and demonstrating the ability to apply a body of rules, regulations, directives, or laws, such as might be found in a law office, banking firm, insurance company, real estate office, or in a court in the judicial system.
The work in this position is performed in an office setting. This is not a full-time telework position.

Preferred Skills / Qualifications:
• A bachelor’s or graduate degree from an accredited college or university.
• Demonstrated experience in docketing with CM/ECF.
• Experience with HTML or other programming languages.
• Ability to analyze systems and skill in training end users.
Personal Characteristics:
The successful candidate should be a mature, dedicated, responsible, and poised individual who possesses tact, good judgment, initiative, a strong work ethic, and the ability to work well with judges, chambers staff, and Clerk’s Office staff. The candidate should be trustworthy and possess the ability to maintain strict confidentiality of sensitive information.
Required Clearances:
The selected candidate will also be required to submit to a background clearance which includes fingerprinting and a credit check.

Benefits:
Salary is just one component of the comprehensive compensation package offered by the Federal Court. Temporary Federal court employees whose appointments are more than 90 days up to 1 year are eligible for a full range of benefits that include 13-26 days of annual leave, 13 days of sick leave, 11 paid holidays per year, a flexible work schedule, pre-tax programs (health and transportation), and insurance plans (i.e., health, disability, and long-term care), car-pooling options and a transportation subsidy.
Employer benefit contributions equate to no less than 33% of an employee’s total compensation. Please see the chart below for an estimated total compensation based on a sample position and salary. Be advised that eligibility may vary by appointment type and length.
For more information about federal court benefits, please visit: www.uscourts.gov/careers/benefits.

How to Apply:
Qualified candidates must submit a cover letter, resume, a minimum of three references with contact information, and the AO-78 Application Form (available for download in the application portal). All application materials must be submitted here: CASD HR Application Portal. More information on career opportunities may also be found at www.casd.uscourts.gov.
Preference will be given to applicants who submit application materials
before 4:30pm, Monday, April 13, 2026.

Information for Applicants
The Court reserves the right to modify the conditions of this job announcement, or to withdraw the announcement, any of which may occur without prior written or other notice. In the event that a position becomes vacant in a similar classification, within a reasonable time of the original announcement, the Clerk of Court may elect to select a candidate from the applicants who responded to the original announcement without posting the position.
Only qualified applicants will be considered for this position. Employees of the U.S. District Court serve under “Excepted Appointments” and are considered “at will” employees. Federal Civil Service classifications or regulations do not apply; however, court employees are entitled to substantially the same benefits as other Federal Government employees.
All information provided by applicants is subject to verification and background investigation. Applicants are advised that false statements or omission of information on any application materials or the inability to meet the following conditions may be grounds for non-selection, withdrawal of an offer of employment or dismissal after being employed.
Participation in the interview process will be at the applicant’s own expense and relocation expenses will not be provided.
The position is subject to the mandatory electronic fund transfer (EFT) participation for payment of net pay (i.e., Direct Deposit).
Non-citizens may be interviewed and considered for employment, but employment offers will only be made to individuals who qualify under one of the exceptions in 8 U.S.C. § 1324b(a)(3)(B). In most cases, this means that an offer of employment cannot be made unless the candidate is a lawful permanent resident who is seeking U.S. citizenship as explained below.
Under 8 U.S.C. §1324b(a)(3)(B), a lawful permanent resident seeking citizenship may not apply for citizenship until he or she has been a permanent resident for at least five years (three years if seeking naturalization as a spouse of a citizen), at which point he or she must apply for citizenship within six months of becoming eligible, and must complete the process within two years of applying (unless there is a delay caused by the processors of the application). Non-citizens who have not been permanent residents for five years will be required to execute an affidavit that they intend to apply for citizenship when they become eligible to do so.
If selected for first time appointment to a position, you may be required to complete an initial performance probationary period. Failure to successfully complete the probationary period may result in termination of employment.
THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER